A bridge to the Brit for Ridgewell?

Stoke City have reportedly made a bid of £3million for Birmingham defender Liam Ridgewell... if this is true, does that mean that Ryan Shawcross is more likely to leave? Or is he just to replace the recently departed Abdoulaye Faye? Who knows? Where`s Paul the Octopus when you need him?

With Birmingham now in the npower Championship, Stoke will be looking to capitalise on inevitable decreased value of the defender, and also the club`s finances being in the red. Alex McLeish has been told he has to sell off some of his prize assets to cover the club's debts, so Ridgewell might not be the only player that could be heading for the exit.

The 26-year-old moved to St Andrew's from Aston Villa in 2007, and has earned himself a great reputation since becoming a Blue, especially last season when he had a great display for them, attracting Tony Pulis` interest. He has played comfortably at centre-half and left-back, which could provide good defensive cover for us.

Stoke are also thought to be weighing up whether to go back in for Birmingham's Cameron Jerome after making a failed bid to sign him in January.